


Snowbound

by YaYaSestrahood



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 02:06:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14250762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaYaSestrahood/pseuds/YaYaSestrahood
Summary: Sarah makes an unexpected connection at an airport bar.





	Snowbound

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Agogobell28](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agogobell28/gifts).



> Happy (belated) birthday, friend!

Sarah ran her eyes over the screen in disbelief. A list of dozens of flights, every one of them marked with the same word in bright red letters: DELAYED. She let out a frustrated groan.

“Sarah?”

She spun around, quickly finding the source of the voice.

Her heart leapt into her throat.

“You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.”

 

* * *

 

Sarah had only ever been to this airport once before, years ago. Another layover flying home after visiting her brother. A freak snowstorm had left her stranded here, seeking solace at the airport bar. It was too brightly-lit and antiseptic for Sarah’s liking, but it would have to do.

“Bourbon rocks,” she muttered in the general direction of the bartender. She brought an elbow onto the counter, ran a hand through her hair.

It had been a good visit for the most part, a week of drinking and catching up, laughing about the dumb shit they used to get up to as teenagers. She could honestly say it was the most fun she’d had in a long time. Then, as their time together grew short, something changed, something there in Felix’s voice that hadn’t been there before. Sadness and regret over not having more time together, yes. But also, something else.

“Don’t ever think this is all there is,” he had said, painfully earnest. “You deserve more, Sarah.”

_Pity._ Her brother pitied her.

Right now, all she wanted was to get home, fall into bed and stay there until she could forget that sorry look on her brother’s face. But here she was instead, already half in the bag at an airport bar.

“You know,” said a voice from beside her. “In some cultures, snow is seen as a kind of cleansing force. Covering up the past in a blanket of pure white and all that.

Sarah turned to the source of the voice. A blonde woman in loose-fitting clothing, a coy smile on her face, looking altogether nothing like someone who had just found out she’d be stranded at an airport for the foreseeable future. Sarah would say she was attractive if she weren’t chatting absolute shit.

“That right?” Sarah grumbled.

“Yeah,” the woman said. “Personally, I think it’s just a pain in the ass.”

Sarah chuckled in spite of herself.

“I’m Shay,” the woman said, extending a hand.

_Yeah, alright._

Sarah cleared her throat, forcing the bitterness out of her voice. She took Shay’s hand.

“Sarah,” she said. “Can I get you a drink?”

Shay smiled, leaning in and resting her chin on her palm.

“You certainly can, Sarah.”

 

* * *

 

It took everything Sarah had not to rush to judgment as Shay told her about herself: a holistic healer specializing in nutrition and… helping people stay balanced, whatever the hell that meant. She could only pray that her skepticism wasn’t written all over her face.

“It’s okay if you think it’s all bullshit,” Shay eventually said.

Sarah laughed into her drink.

“That obvious?”

“I mean, you kept hiding behind your bourbon while I was talking,” Shay said. She leaned in close, lowered her voice to a whisper. “Not super subtle.”

“Sorry,” Sarah said. “So what, you saw me sittin’ here, saw my soul was outta balance or somethin’?”

“Not exactly,” Shay sighed. “See, everyone’s soul has this kind of... voice. I was over by the Cinnabon when I heard yours calling to me, and it led me here to you.”

Sarah scanned Shay’s eyes, fighting the urge to hide behind her bourbon.

“Wow,” Shay said, cracking a smirk. “I’m messing with you. I just thought you were hot.”

“Oh, right,” Sarah laughed. “I can work with that.”

“Relax, okay? I’m not here to try and fix you or anything.”

“Good,” Sarah sighed. She downed the rest of her drink. “I’m pretty much unfixable.”

The words had come out too real, hanging thick in the air between them. Shay leaned forward, laying a hand on her wrist.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t listen.”

 

* * *

 

The last thing Sarah had wanted was to talk about any of it, hoping the sting of the alcohol and the company of the cute blonde would be enough to take her mind off her problems. But after finishing their drinks, they’d gone for a walk, past all the grumbling passengers desperate to get home, to a dark and quiet corner at the farthest end of the terminal. It felt calm here, the muffled howl of the wind just outside, the blur of the lights shimmering through the falling snow outside the window.

“I have a kid,” Sarah blurted out, and she wasn’t sure why. Shay turned to her, an unreadable expression on her face. “A girl. Kira.”

“That why you want out of here so bad?” Shay asked. “To get back to her?”

Sarah sighed, shaking her head.

“Dunno,” she admitted. “I miss her like hell when she’s not around. Then when she is, it’s just… all I can think about is how much I’m fuckin’ it up.”

Shay draped an arm around her, began stroking her shoulder.

“She’s with her dad now,” Sarah continued. “He’s always known better than I have, how to take care of her. I can’t even hold a bloody job.”

“It’s not a competition.”

“Yeah, but it is, innit?” Sarah snapped, voice breaking. “Kira can tell. Her dad’s her dad, and her mum’s just a fuck-up.”

Sarah turned away from Shay, biting down hard on her lip to hold the tears back.

“Sorry,” she said. “Dunno why I’m tellin’ you all this shit.”

It was quiet, the wind outside seeming to calm for a moment.

“My mom struggled when I was a kid,” Shay said. Sarah quickly wiped her eyes, turned back to face her. She was gazing out the window at some point far in the distance. “Even then, I could tell how hard it was for her. Always coming home from work exhausted. I was a real brat back then, too much for her to handle sometimes.”

“You serious?” Sarah asked, drawing a laugh out of Shay.

“Believe it or not. I’ve mellowed since then, but it took some bad experiences and a hell of a lot of soul-searching.”

Sarah nodded. She felt a sudden swell of admiration for Shay.

“Anyway,” Shay continued. “My dad was the fun one. He was always coming home with presents, whispering about how I couldn’t tell mom. He knew how to make me laugh. It was easy for him. He got me into field hockey.”

“Field hockey?” Sarah asked, disbelieving. “Not seein’ it.”

“Hey, could you let me finish?” Shay chuckled. She suddenly tilted her head away, face darkening. “Then one day, he went out and never came back.”

“Shit,” Sarah muttered. “Sorry.”

“It was a long time ago,” Shay sighed. “But it made me realize that it was all just bullshit, right? That’s what his idea of being a dad was; all the fun and none of the hard stuff. He left my mom to take care of me on her own. In a way, I guess she always had.”

Shay turned back to Sarah, finding her eyes. She took Sarah’s hands into hers.

“Here’s what matters, okay? You love your daughter, more than anything.”

Sarah nodded, blinking tears free.

“And you’ll always be there, fighting for her, no matter how hard it gets. Because that’s who you are. A fighter.”

“You don’t even know me,” Sarah whimpered.

“I see it in you,” Shay said, and Sarah would have laughed in her face if it didn’t feel so true.

“Thank you,” Sarah croaked. Shay pulled her in close, running a hand along her back. “Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

Even as the storm outside began to calm and their own private corner of the airport became less and less private as passengers began to pour in, awaiting their flight out, Sarah couldn’t help but feel as if it were only ever just her and Shay here. Like this place had been built for just the two of them.

“That’s my flight.”

“Hm?” Sarah mumbled.

Shay flicked her eyes upwards to the droning of the loudspeaker above. Her flight would be boarding soon.

“Oh, right.”

Sarah felt a pang of something in her chest. Something she couldn’t quite put a name to.

“Hey, so, don’t laugh at this, okay?” Shay said, smiling. “But I think maybe this snowstorm happened for a reason.”

“What, like… fate?” Sarah asked, and she surprised herself with how sincere she sounded.

“Well,” Shay sighed. “For the most part, I believe we make our own fate. But every once in a while, when we really need it, I think the universe gives us a little push in the right direction.”

She took Sarah’s hand.

“It was really nice to meet you.”

Sarah’s eyes fell to where their hands had joined together, then back to Shay’s warm smile. She reached around her neck and pulled her close. She kissed her. It felt right, like something they both needed.

Shay was smiling softly when they pulled apart, a hint of sadness in her eyes. She reached a hand up, ran her fingers gently through Sarah’s hair.

“Goodbye, Sarah.”

She brought her hand down, tracing the length of Sarah’s arm and finally catching at her fingertips. Sarah wanted to hold on, to her, to _this,_ but soon, it was gone. With a parting smile, Shay turned and walked away, out of Sarah’s life.

 

* * *

 

That was, until today.

Here, at the exact same airport. Another freak snowstorm.

And Shay, years older but somehow almost exactly how Sarah remembered her, that same look in her eye.

“It’s really coming down out there, huh?” she said, a nervous quiver in her voice.

“What’re you--” Sarah started. “I mean, I never thought I’d…”

“Yeah,” Shay said, nodding. “Me neither.”

They stood silent for a moment, taking in the sight of each other.

“Can I… get you a drink?” Sarah asked.

Shay laughed, and Sarah swore she could see tears in her eyes.

“You certainly can, Sarah.”


End file.
